A federal grand jury will meet this week in Florida to hear evidence in special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
It is not clear how the court proceedings in Florida relate to the work of a separate grand jury in Washington, where prosecutors had been presenting evidence and witness testimony for months. The development was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Why prosecutors are using multiple grand juries, and whether they are ready to seek an indictment in either jurisdiction is unknown. The Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation.
Three members of Trump's legal team met Monday with Smith and other officials at the Justice Department, a person familiar with the matter said. Neither Attorney General Merrick Garland nor Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco were present, NBC News confirmed.
Writing on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump blasted the Justice Department on Monday, saying in all caps: “How can DOJ possibly charge me, who did nothing wrong, when no other president’s were charged.”
Trump's handling of classified documents came under FBI investigation last year when the National Archives alerted the agency that government documents Trump had returned after having been out of office for about a year included 184 that were marked as classified.
Trump was indicted this spring on state charges in New York in a case relating to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and a second woman in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. It was the first time a former president has faced criminal charges.
